Blood, Steel and Ash
by drewbi6
Summary: When the 23rd regiment of Ostermark is dispatched to deal with a minor orc army, they underestimate the greenskins and are swept up in the advance. Now behind enemy lines, they must survive raids, hunger and disease, and hopefully see home again.
1. The battle of Nieweven

**Hello it has been a while since I had written something, so I wanted to start new with warhammer fantasy, some of the characters in the story are based off the show "dads army" also I am new to fantasy so if I make any errors, tell me in the reviews. Read on.**

Chapter 1: The battle of the Nieweven

The sun beamed down on the field bellow, the fields were jagged and a mixture of vegetation and dirt, but for today it was a battlefield. On the highest point an imperial Griffon perched with its head held high with an equally proud general on his back. The general's wealth was given away by the huge amount of gold rimming on his armour and the family coat of arms on his shield. He was Herr von Karsten Klopfer, the second son of Manfred Klopfer and commander of the first, second and third battalion of 23rd regiment of the Ostermark.

He looked over the army facing the greenskin horde confronting them, His swordsmen were at the head, lead by captain Emil Saks to try and kill the war boss himself and end the battle quickly. On his right flank he had a block of spearmen positioned to hold against a large mob of goblins. The block was lead by a Sigmar Priest Kunz Mommsen. To his left he had halberders set up to hold against a pack of boar riders. In the tall grass adjacent to them were pistoliers hiding and anxious to fight.

On the hill to the generals right was a line of great cannons hell, blaster volley guns and rocket batteries, lead by gunner master Jügen Blamemberg, a name matching his personality. Bellow the artillery but looking above the infantry and cavalry below were hand gunners split in rows to fire over the top of the state troopers. In between the spearmen and the swordsmen, knightls prepared to charge into the fray. In amongst the ranks of troops was celestial wizard Wilhelm Cranz. Lastly great swordsmen were ready to move in to support the state troopers in case the battle went badly. The general sent out the messengers to tell them the battle of Nieweven was to begin.

The previous day archers were sent out as scouts to judge the orc numbers. They said they would be back by dawn but none have returned. Captain Saks thought about this as he looked at the group of black orcs moving straight for his men.

"Captain Saks, the general has ordered the battle to begin." The messenger said looking down at the Captain. Saks was short and stout, with a sheathed sabre, a metal shield and a holstered flintlock pistol. His face bore the scars of a hundred battles, with balding hair and a large overly cultivated moustache.

"Good lad, now get out of the way before you get yourself killed." The captain said to the rider as he rode off up the hill.

"Right men, we are here to fight the orc menace, you will hold your ground against these beasts with the determination and steel the empire has had for years." He then stopped for a breath and pulled out his sabre, and held it in the air.

"For Sigmar, the emperor, the empire and the war hammer." The sword and shield wielding state troopers said in response.

"Forward march!" Saks shouted as the men moved in step with the drummers beat. As the order was given the hand gunners fired over their heads bringing down the first wave of orcs and goblins.

"I do say so sir that was a very good speech…it…it really got the men motivated sir." The sergeant next to him said, the sergeant was tall and handsome but his voice was timid. He held the company banner, with a sheathed sword and pistol at his belt.

"No time for compliments Baurer, we have a battle to win." The captain replied. The ground was rich and firm, making it easy to march in their half plate armour.

"Halt…Form triangle formation!" Saks shouted as the rolling of the drums signaled the men to get into formation to brake the greenskin mob. As this happened Saks sheathed his sword and pulled out his pistol and took a shot at the orcs.

"Well start firing Baurer!" The captain shouted as he loaded his pistol.

"Oh, yes…um do you mind holding this." Baurer said handing the banner to a state trooper next to him as he shot at the orcs to bring one down. After a few more shots the orcs were in range for the charge.

"How are you an NCO Baurer."

"Okay men charge on my mark…three…two…one…For the empire." Saks shouted leading the triangle formation with his shield up front. The gap in the two units closed and a clash of metal hitting metal rang out across the field as brutal close combat ensured.

Across the field, sunlight reflected off the raised halberds as they marched forward. Out of all of them one halberd stood out. The blade was sharpened carefully and he at the front of the phalanx it was firmly held by an old corporal, a man that had seen more battles than Saks. He was medium height with grey hair and moustache, he was slightly out in front of the others in the block, and had a stern look on his face.

"Holt…square formation." The sergeant barked as the men moved into a bristling porcupine of steel quills, making it impossible for cavalry to flank. The corporal was in the front row, facing the thundering hooves of the boar riders. Next to him was a young soldier who appeared to be in his first battle.

"Listen here boy, that halberd is your life, you hold onto that and you will be safe, take this advice, there is no better substitute than cold steel…and remember they do not like it up'em" The man looked at him strangely and then went back to holding his halberd. As the boars thundered closer, the old corporal, stood firm as he had fought orcs before and he wasn't planning on giving up today. As the boars rode closer the men shuffled in nervousness. But not the corporal.

The men buckled as the herde hit the wall of sharp steel, but they held their ground and fought on against the stronger green skins. The corporal was in the thick of the fighting being the first one to bring down a boar. As soon as its rider was on the ground he finished it off with a swing of the blade and a crack of its skull. The fighting went on until the packs numbers were diminished and the orcs broke. There was a small cry of success, but now river trolls moved into take over from the boar boyz.

 **More chapters will be coming out soon, please leave your first impressions in the reviews and thankyou for reading. bye**


	2. Regimental Characters

Chapter 2: Regimental characters

Marc Eibenchütz was stood in the dry tall grass, ready to mount his war horse with the other pistoliers and outriders. He was a dashing young man with a clean shave, tall and gangly build and he had long arms and long legs with brown hair covered by a helmet, he also had a scarf his mother knitted for him in the state troop colours.

"Ready your aim, pick your targets and do not stop moving." The outrider said readying his two repeater pistols and giving his thick waxed beard one last comb.

"Hey Eibenchütz, did your mother check your pants before going into battle?" One of the pisoliers said to Marc who responded with the two finger salute.

"Leck mich am Arsch, Schwein Hund." Eibenchütz shouted back until the outrider turned his head.

"Would you two dummkopfs shut up…ficken Blödian." The outrider said mounting his horse and raising his pistols.

Following him, the pistoliers mounted their horses and started to gallop, the wind went through Eibenchutz's hair as the grass brushed against his shiny leather boots. His horse gained speed. He was trained to time shots for accuracy in shooting. The cavalry charged surrounding the trolls shooting inwards. Eibenchütz was smiling as nothing exited him more than the battle field. He swore as he killed one of the trolls with a pistol round to the head. Finally with the support of the pistoliers and the halberds of the state troops, the trolls were destroyed. But more was to come. Decending on the block were hundreds of goblins of packed together on foot, wolf back and squigs.

On the hill, Jügen Blamenburg looked over the battle below. He had blackened yellow scurvy ridden teeth, a peg leg and an eyepatch. He had a sheathed cutlass and was leaning on a crooked wooden cane, he had the gait of a sailor which he hadn't lost ever since his departure from the navy. He stamped the ground and smiled, he then turned to face the gun crews, with their cannons, volley guns and rocket batteries loaded and ready to fire.

"Listen up lads, the ground is hard, you want to make sure your cannon balls bounce along the ground, get your angles right and fire on my mark." Blamenburg shouted, he then took the pipe out of his mouth and puffed out a ring of smoke before holding his pipe over the fuse.

"Now!" he shouted dropping the burning embers on the fuse lighting them and setting off the cannon. The line of artillery followed. The battlefield lit up as cannons shook the earth and rockets exploded in smoke and flames.

"I'd like to see the hand gunners do any better than that lads." Blamenburg said scrunching more tobacco leaves and putting some cannon ash into his pipe.

Below the artillery, hand gunners fired volley after volley of lead balls into the enemy. They worked in rows of two with one firing the gun who would hand it back to the loader in exchange for a freshly loaded handgun.

"Quartermaster Speck, I have message from gunner master Blamenburg." A messenger said to a a middle aged brown haired man looking through a pair of binoculars. He turned to the young messenger, showing his moustached lip and small goatee, he then took the letter.

It said 'I'd like to see you and your mens pee shooters do more that my beasts' Speck looked up at the hill to see the grim smile of the ex sailor looking over him.

"Say back to him that I am the quartermaster and I have control over his rum ration." Speck said before being handed his hochland long rifle and setting it up. He then started to look about the battlefield for any characters of interest. He looked into the black orcs fighting against the swordsmen and saw a short, stout captain stabbing a sabre through the exposed jaw of an orc, quickly kicking it off and bashing another orc in the face with his shield smashing some of its teeth out.

He kept on looking down the line until he saw a wizard, he was old and frail with a tall horse beneath him. 'Poor old duffer, he belongs in a grave, not on a field like this' Speck thought too himself as he moved and shot at an orc leader, hitting it straight in the eye socket.

Cranzs' horse galloped accross the ground. It was starting to make him feel off balance so he stopped it and held his staff in the air. He was old with a small white beard and bald blemished head, he then started to whisper to himself. Above the orcs a thunder cloud started to form and then lightning started to strike down the orcs leaving a trail of a searing greenskins. The ones who reached him were blasted away in a gush of wind. He then wiped the sweat of his wrinkly head.

"For sigmar they say?" Cranz said interrupted by a horse cough. He then dug his knees into the horse and got it moving again.

"Bit shocking…what's this priest doing?" Speck said looking down at a priest in amongst spearmen about to go toe to toe with a mob of goblins.

"Now men, keep one alive so we can play football with it after we're done." Warrior priest Mommsen joked and was met with a round of laughter, he then raised his hammer.

He started off the fight by swinging at the first goblin sending him through air with a screech of pain and fear. The engagement started as spearmen jabbed into the low liying goblins until they broke and ran. The fight didn't last very long as Mommsen caved in the skull of the herder, any who couldn't run fast enough had the fate of being hit like golf balls by the sigmar priest. The tide of the battle leant the way of the imperial army, as General Klopfer looked over the battle with a smile across his face. He knew he would bring honour to his family. He would be would make his father proud and this would be one of many victories.

"What a great sight men, this is a fine day." The general said sitting at a small dining table with a meal consisting of pork sausages, cheese, bread, roast geese and a glass of wine.

The halberd phalanx finally stopped fighting as the orcs and goblins broke and ran, leaving a high corpse pile behind. Then out of the tall grass, three men rand with their hands in the air.

"Wait…wait…we are the scouts, we have grave news that a much bigger army is on its way, you have to retreat." One of the empire archers informed the sergeant while panting and weasing, the trees tunics were stained with blood and sweat.

"I see, Corporal Welser, take a message to the general that the scouts have returned, a much bigger army is on the way and we must retreat." The sergeant ordered to the old state trooper, who responded with a click of the heels, and a salute.

"Will do sir." He said then started to run up the hill, despite his age of 45 he was still quite fit and could still run carrying armour and a halberd.

"Shouldn't you have sent someone younger." The archer said to the sergeant, watching the veteran run up the hill.

"Don't judge a man by his age alone." The sergeant said back, and then turned to face the battlefield.

Corporal Welser puffed and panted, he slowed his run to a medium pace jog so he had strength to run back down the hill to help. Until he ran past some greenery and heard the primal grown of an overgrown fungus beast, then the swing of a chopper.

"Die umie!" Welser ducked and rolled behing the orc, following it up with impaling the green skin, before he could pull out his halberd another orc charged him with a downward swing. Welser put up his halberd to meet the choppa with a loud clang and sparks flying, the orc repeated to hit the until the bole of the halberd broke, digging the orcs blade into the ground. Welser adjusted his hands and used the sharp end as an axe, killing the orc with a loud crack of bones. Welser left his weapon in the deceased savage and resumed running.

"Sir, the scouts have returned they say a much bigger army is on the way and we must retreat." The general laughed with a mouthful of cake and shook his head.

"Go tell the men to stop being so cowardly and be ready to face them." The general said going back to his desert, he then took a sip of tea and went back to his fruit cake on a plate made of white sugar.

"Sir we all do respect, but we are tired and we wont last against an army that big." Jones said, the 20 years in the army has taught him that you don't talk back to an officer, but he had also seen officers do things just for their pride.

"You got your message corporal, now fall back in line!" The general barked, before shoving another piece of fruit cake into his mouth.

"Yes…yes sir" Welser said and ran back down the hill, the running was much easier downhill and he could still talk well by the end of the run.

"He said that we stand and fight." The archers looked at him with fear and dread showing across their faces.

Saks wiped the blood of his sabre on the corpse of a black orc, they would have probably lost if the knights hadn't done a counter charge. They looked about the bodies and noticed that none of the orcs appeared to be the war boss, then they heard the sound of boots. The soldiers looked up to see tens of thousands of orcs and hundreds of thousands of goblins marching towards their lines, They were accompanied by mangler squigs, giants and arachnarok spiders. All were lead by a warboss on the back of a Wyren.

"Thats an awful lot of them sir" Baurer said with his eyes wide in fear, Saks looked at the army and stroked his moustache.

"We stand and wait for orders…but I do know that army is moving rather quickly." The captain said sitting down on a orc to get a rock out of his boot.


	3. Burnt hay

**Hello again I feel this story is going rather well. Reviews would be liked and so would follows and favourites. Read on**

Chapter 3: Burnt hay

"Well, there is a lot of them." The general said, neatly putting his cutlery down to symbolise that he had finished his meal.

"Sir I recommend we retreat." One of his advises said, Klopfer just ignored him and doned his helmet and picked up his lance and shield, he then walked to his mount.

"Nonsense, I will smite the beast and the army will break." The general said mounting his imperial griffon and taking off flying straight to the orc warboss.

"What in sigmar's name is that upper-class twit doing, he is going to get himself killed." Priest Mommsen shouted to no one in particular. The orcs and goblins started to gain speed.

"Have at thee foul orc scum!" The general cried as his griffon clawed at the wyren. An air battle continued with the screech and roar of the two beast drowning out the marching of the soldiers. Meanwhile the two commanders dueled with lance and choppa, the lance fell to the ground cut in two, with Klopfer drawing his sword with a triumphant cheer.

"In the name of the Klopfer family and the empire, you shall die by my blade!" The general shouted, taking on the war boss in close combat.

On the ground, tensions in the men were rising. The horde was fast approaching and setting up artillery pieces. The plain became like a moving field of green and brown. The orcs were shouting war cries and started to sprint.

"Well, lads we are going." Speck said going to the line of horse drawn vans and loading in his rifle before jumping in the drivers seat. The other hand gunners followed what he was doing and jumped in the van or ran along the ground, passing the artillery.

"Oi what are ye doing boy?" Blamenburg said to the quartermaster. He was being aggressive and didn't like to see the cowardly behaviour of the sharpshooter driving the van.

"Well, to put it in your terms mate, we're doomed if we don't run now." Speck continued to ride the van down the other side of the hill towards the farm village, with a column of hand gunners behind him.

"The lad is right. Fire off your last round and hitch up the guns, we move now." Blamenburg ordered pulling the cloth out of his non deaf ear and mounting his chestnut stallion.

At the forefront of the battle, the three blocks of state troops, the pistoliers and knights looked at the wall of greenskins, wooden shields, clubs, choppas, and beasts. Sergeant Baurer turned around and was alarmed to see the only reinforcements left were the great swordsmen. He then nudged the stoic captain, standing proud against the overwhelming odds.

"Captain, I have just noticed that our artillery has disappeared." Bauerer said fearfully, Saks turned around and had the same expression as the sergeant.

"We show no fear, we stand and fight." Saks ordered

The battle above carried on. The general was getting tired and overly aggressive trying to kill his opponent as quickly as possible. The general flew away and recharged the wyre. As he charged he screamed a battle cry, but it was suddenly cut off, literally. The men stared in horror as the corpse of their leader plummeted to the ground. It was as if the battle fell silent for the men.

"Okay retreat, but don't show any fear." Saks ordered as the men turned and ran. The soldiers were tired and were weighed down by their equipment and themselves.

On the two flanks the state troops and knights ran, the outriders were providing covering fire but the green and brown tide was catching up. Halfway up the hill, the first of the jagged and rusty blades struck down on the fleeing men.

Eibenshutz felt both adrenalin and fear, firing off lead ball after lead ball from his pistols, with smoke and powder filling the air. The outrider fired volleys into the orcs, only taking breaks to load his repeater pistols with quickness and efficiency. Eibenshutz, kept on fighting as the halberders ran around him and his pistolier companions. He knew he was racking up a huge amount of kills he could brag about.

Cranz turned his horse and ran as he saw the enemy approaching, he then looked to see the spearmen getting overwhelmed, and made his way to their aid. Mommsen lead the spearmen up the hill. He was moving quite fast for wearing plate armour and carrying a metal hammer. But the orcs were moving faster and caught up to them. Inch by inch, bodies of spearmen fell and the green skins cheered. Mommsen stopped letting his troops run past him so he could swing his hammer. Letting the might of sigmar guide him, and with a loud cracking noise an orc fell with a split skull. He conintued to fight in a dance of momentum fuelled death. Fracturing limbs, dislocating arms and splitting heads open. This ended when a larger orc caught his hammer and threw him to the ground. But before the orc could bring down his axe, he was blown off his feet with a gust of wind, and was shot by a bolt of lighting. Mommsen looked up to see the heavenly wizard wielding a tuning rod and sword. The wizard rode towards him with a smile on his face.

"Are you okay their sir?" Cranz said, the priest stood with a stern face and wondered how this man could be so jolly while surrounded with death and gore.

"As you say old man." Mommsen replied picking up his hammer and running after his detachment with the wizard ahead of him.

The swordsmen of Saks and Baurer were the first ones to run, and were the furthest up the hill, but they had a giant bearing down on them. Its tree club could be felt with the gushes of wind just behind the men, rustling their clothing and making them feel small. Then as Saks noticed the shadow leaning over him. He rolled out the way to see a hand reach down and pick up Baurer and raise him to its mouth, the sergeant struggled until he devised a plan. He quickly pulled the standard of the wooden pole and took his time folding it up. As he neared the mouth, he put the pole between the giants mouth and locked it apart. He then pulled out his pistol and aimed for the beasts eye, he then took a shot. It hit on target making the giant scream in pain. As this happened, Baurer pulled out the standard pole and gave a quick wave.

"See you later." As he was dropped by the giant falling to its knees in drunken pain. He landed safely and caught up with the rest of the detachment.

"In the name of Sigmar, Baurer how did you know how to do that." Saks asked, wondering how the timid sergeant could disable a drunk giant.

"Well, sir…I was just thinking on my feet…I still have the flag." The sergeant replied putting the standard on the pole and running. They were near the peak of the hill.

At the village the hand gunners and artillery charged straight through the village as the villagers watched in confusion. The mayor came out of the town hall right up to Speck.

"What is going on, did you win?" Speck ignored the mayor and gave orders to get the handguns out of the van and line up outside the village.

"You don't need to worry mate." As speck said this the state troops came down the hill, getting overrun with orcs and goblins. They were lead by the knights and outriders, along with great swordsmen.

"Load in an explosive round and aim for that giant…ok boys, now look for the head of that dumbkopf overweight drunk sack of fat. Now take aim." Blamenburg did this while licking his finger and adjusting the angle of the cannon for maximum damage.

"And fire." With the rumble of the earth the cannon ball was off. It went over the top of the state troops and entered the chest of the giant. Then the cannonball exploded, erupting the chest of the beast into a shower of gore and bone, raining onto the state troops. The 16ft humanoid toppled over and crushed the orcs that were too slow or unlucky to be behind the drunk being.

The cannons and handguns continued to rumble the ground until the state troops reached line of steel and brass spewing waves of lead.

"Speck…I need your men to form a rear guard action, as soon as we are off, run into the woods." Saks said pointing at the thick forrest behind the village.

"Will do sir." Speck said giving a quick and informal salute, then returning to his Hochland long rifle.

"Blammenburg get your guns moving and into the trees."

"Aye sir" The artillery master shouted over the rumbling guns, the villagers were screaming and cowering in their homes.

The state troops, outriders and knights kept ging until they were past the village and into the safety of the tall pines and scrub. On the way Saks found a lantern and smashed it onto a bale of hay, setting it alight instantly.

"If we can't defend it, the enemy wont get it." Saks said turning to Baurer who gave a unsure look, he saw the logic in his actions, but now the villagers would die.

Soon it was the handgunners turn to take casualties. Men fell before the strong swings of orc blades, and the gun line broke. However they made it out and into the forest, leaving the victorious shouts of orcs and cries of dispare and pain from the villagers.

The battle was a complete disaster, letting the orcs sweep in and carry their borders further into empire territory. But For the two battalions that survived, it was just the beginning.

 **Dun Dun Dun, also if you have ideas for what could happen next do tell me, see you next time.**


	4. The regroup

**Hello again, I haven't done a chapter in a while, partly due to complications and partly due to writing an Undertale Fanfic, read on.**

 **Also if you want to have added lols, speak all the imperial lines in a German Accent**

Chapter 4: The regroup

campaign duration: 4 hours

Surviving men: roughly 2000

It had been a couple hours now, but the state troops were still skeptical that they had actually lost the small groups of pursuing Greenskins. Saks stood over a wooden table with Baurer behind him in a small canvas tent in the biggest clearing they could find, in amongst the tall, thick pine trees. Soon Blamenburg, Speck, Cranz, Eibenchutz, Mommson and a couple other officers walked in. While they entered the sergeant leading the halberd unit, told Welser to stand outside and not let anyone in.

"Baurer the map" Saks said, gesturing for the sergeant to lay out a map of Ostermark for the view of the officers that surrounded it.

"Ok men… the battle was a failure, and with the death of General Klopfer, I, Captain Emil Saks will take command of the 53rd regiment of Ostermark." He said standing up straight, trying to assert his authority over the other officers.

"And who says so." The Sigmar priest said, slamming his armoured gauntlet on the table, almost making it flip.

"I say so priest, now we are here, and as far as we know, no one is coming to help us." Saks said pointing at the eastern border of the map.

"The orcs have moved further through the state than we have, so we are officially behind enemy lines. Speck have you done the calculations?" Saks said, looking at the quartermaster, who was holding a piece of paper, and a quill with an abacus tucked under his arm.

"Right I have sir. We have lost a third of the men…so we have roughly two thousand left…now I have done the maths and since we were relying on supply wagons…we have one week's worth of food, now I could get you more food, but I may need something in return." This caused a bit of whispering amongst the officers, quickly quietened down by Saks.

"Are you really going to use the lives of the regiment as an opportunity for coin Speck? I am ashamed." Saks looked at the quartermaster as the shady man stroked his small, thin moustache.

"No, sir, I just need a couple karls…to pay for it, that is all." Saks grumbled and reached into a pocket in his puffy trousers and pulled out his purse.

"Spend it, well ok." Speck just nodded as he counted out the cash and slid it into the purse of his own, all done with a victorious grin on his face.

"Aye, sir, we are doomed… Dooooooomed… On the sailing ships I have seen men go mad at the lack of food… the thought of land getting further… the touch of a woman… getting more desperate…in the end we had to improvise." The men in the tent gave him a strange look.

"Argh what ever happens at sea, stays at sea." After they got themselves back on track towards the matter at hand. Then Eibenchutz finally spoke out.

"Mr Saks, sir, what if I ride all the way back to the nearest town and bring more food back." He then grew the smile of a genius, Saks shook his head knowing he was dealing with an upper class twit.

"You stupid boy you wouldn't make the first mile, and were is your officer?" Saks answered, noticing the young man was clean shaven, while outriders usually had eccentrically waxed beards and moustaches.

"Oh Outrider Tom Rietz is dead, I have taken over as leader." He said with the optimistic smile back across his face.

"And why you and not anyone else?" Saks wondered as Pistoliers weren't really known for being the smartest soldiers on the field.

"Well, I was the first one to volunteer sir." Saks predicted it would be something along the lines of that and 'I was the richest'.' But Saks didn't really seem to mind.

"Right men, we are behind enemy lines, our supplies are cut off and we are to be presumed dead. The plan is simple, we march out of the enemy territory to safety, that will take roughly…um, what was it again Baurer?"

"Five weeks, sir" Baurer said, breaking the silence that he had kept, while towering over the stout captain in front of him.

"That is a terrible idea, I say we stay here and wait for a relief column to arrive." Mommsen shouted, challenging the officer to a stare down. Then the frail voice of Cranz spoke out.

"My mother always used to say, if you are lost…stay still until I find you." The two broke the stare and looked at the old wizard, wondering which side he was supporting.

"I honestly don't care, but we are doomed any way, we stay we die, if we move we die, we are surrounded…We're doomed I tells ya DOOMED" Blamenburg ranted with his single eye sinking back into his skull, while he adjusted his eyepatch, to show off his scar as much as possible.

"May I advise sir, that we move in the night and sleep in the day to minimize our chances of us getting spotted?" Baurer said holding his ear lobe, to show he was nervous.

"Good plan, we will stick with that and…" Before Saks could finish, he could hear the distant shout of fear approaching the tent.

"Don't panic. Don't panic, beastmen have attacked don't panic." Then suddenly, Welser burst into the tent, his upper body was covered in dark blood, and he only had his tunic and undergarments on.

"Quiet down you old duffer watcha talking about." Speck said, the corporal kept marching on the spot agitated and looking about, he didn't seem to notice that he was only wearing underpants.

"I was in the woods a-and I was attacked… Come sir, have a look." The officers filed out of the tent after Welser and walked through the groups of camp fires and state troops, all looking in the direction of the half dressed man.

They finally reached the scene of the incident, a ghor was on the ground with a halberd through its belly with some of its innards hanging out. An axe was on the ground near the corpse. Welsers trousers were hanging off the branch of a tree.

"What happened here corporal?" Saks asked while kicking the hooves of the half man half beast before him.

"Well sir, I was outside the tent and I had to relieve some bodily functions. So I walked to this spot and did my business." While he narrated his tale he did all the moves.

"Then I stood up and was about to reach for my pants when suddenly, out of nowhere I heard a roar like aaarrr, he swung his axe, but I dodged and it scratched my armour. He swung twice more, then suddenly, I dived for my halberd, and thrusted it…howar…right between its legs. He let out a huge scream, it was so loud. He was in so much pain. I then pulled it out and stabbed him right through the stomach, guts went every where. Blood spurted out and I ran. They don't like it up em sir, they do not."

"Yes…yes very good story corporal, what is your name by the way." Saks liked the skill and enthusiasm of this man despite his age.

"Corporal Welser sir" He said clicking his heels and giving a brisk salute, he then stayed in that position and waited for the captain.

"You seem competent on how to use a weapon, How would you like to be my bodyguard?" The corporal didn't show any emotion, but on the inside, he was jumping for joy at the offer of being next to the captain in battle.

"It would be an honour sir." He responded, trying not to shed a tear or break the sternness of his face.

"Good you are dismissed." Saks said, saluting back leaving Welser to walk to the ghor, and start tugging at his halberd, while the captain looked to the officers.

"Now men, the road will be hard and unforgiving, people will die and we will have to improvise. We may not have the strength of the dwarves. We may not have the elegance of the elves. We may not have the toughness of the Greenskins. But we are men of the empire, we have an inextinguishable fire within all of us that lets us carry on. Your body may collapse in tiredness, your legs may become fragile and your body may fail, but we will not break and we will not hand ourselves over as failures. we will die with determination, we will die with, holy Scheißen." The speech was interrupted with the ghor roaring to life, and Welser stomping on its head with his bare foot. It was finally silenced by Cranz letting out a bolt of lightning from his fingertips. It was made sure of with Mommsen turning the beastman's head into a paste of blood and bone with a single blow of his hammer.

"That it is all I have to say, we will go in an hour, get ready to move. The campaign back to our home has begun, we need a good name." Saks tried to think of what sort of name would be suited, looking back on the names of the campaigns he participated in before.

"I suggest we think of it later, sir, I will start the pack up." Baurer said walking back to the tent and picking up the blood stained standard from its ditch.

"I, I suggest you put some trousers on Corporal Welser." Cranz said passing, the state trooper who just noticed that he only had his underpants on.

 **Thank you for reading, tell me about how I can improve and review how it is going. Until next time be good.**


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